The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois

From Goodreads,

"A Newbery Medal Winner

Professor William Waterman Sherman intends to fly across the Pacific Ocean. But through a twist of fate, he lands on Krakatoa, and discovers a world of unimaginable wealth, eccentric inhabitants, and incredible balloon inventions.Winner of the 1948 Newbery Medal, this classic fantasy-adventure is now available in a handsome new edition.

"William Pene du Bois combines his rich imagination, scientific tastes, and brilliant artistry to tell a story that has no age limit."—The Horn Book" 

 Goodreads - The Twenty-One Balloons

Can you imagine dropping everything in life to go on a year long adventure?  Maybe your adventure would be to travel for a year and let life decide your direction.  Or maybe your adventure would be to accomplish as many things on your bucket list before you actually kick the bucket.  I would love to drop everything for a year and travel by whatever means necessary.  This book explores the adventure of packing up and leaving life behind to travel in a hot air balloon.

This book was written in 1947 (yes, I know the book is "old") and it won the Newberry Medal in 1948.  This book has a lot of suspense and adventure in it.  It was a fairly easy read with fairly simple vocabulary.  It follows the story of Professor William Waterman Sherman who has decided to take a year off from teaching to go on an adventure in a hot air balloon.  The story takes an unexpected twist when he crashes near the island of Krakatoa.  He soon finds out that people inhabit the island and that the island has an abundance of diamonds.  The Krakatoans have a very unique way of handling life on the island that makes sense for them.  The story continues and the reader finally discovers what happened.

I really tried to read this book as a normal 23 year old and not as a teacher, but that didn't happen.  There is so much that can be done with this in a classroom.  The Krakatoans have a unique form of government and I think it would be perfect for the students to practice this form of government to see how effective it really is.  You could incorporate science by discussing the dynamics of a hot air balloon.  The students could use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) by creating their own hot air balloon out of a series of given materials.  The students could incorporate math by determining how much their hot air balloon could hold and how much it would hold if it were ten or a hundred times bigger.

Whoa...I'm so sorry I just turned into a teacher for a few minutes there.  I get so excited about books and finding ways to incorporate them in the classroom!!

Overall this was a good book.  It had a lot of adventure and kept me on the edge of my seat because I wanted to know the true story of Professor William Waterman Sherman.  I give this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars.  This isn't a book I would typically read, but sometimes it is good to branch out and read something old or out of your typical genre.  A change of pace is good... it can sometimes take you on an exciting adventure.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

From Goodreads:

"Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.

In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "Secret Annexe" of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death.

In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short."

                                                         

    Goodreads - The Diary of a Young Girl

Awards:

• Luisterboek Award - 2008

All throughout my junior high and high school education I remember being taught over and over about the Holocaust.  I remember reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.  I was in 6th or 7th grade and I knew that the book had to do with the Holocaust, Jews, Nazis, and World War II.  I didn't fully understand the significance of the book.  I didn't understand what the book had to do with my life.

Fast forward a few years to my college years.  In my Children's Literature class we had to read 50 children's books and write a report for each book.  We had to give a summary of the book and then write how we would utilize this book in a classroom.  As I was rereading Number the Stars I realized that there was so much that I didn't understand when I was in junior high.  It was refreshing to reread a book that I had read as a child in school and understand the complexity.

This leads me to the book The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.  The book is a nonfiction work and is written by a young Jewish girl named Anne Frank.  She starts writing in her diary before they go into hiding.  Throughout the two years they were in hiding we see Anne grow and experience being a teenager.  We read about the fighting and arguing that took place in the Secret Annexe.  We see her deal with typical teenager problems such as disagreements with mothers and the overwhelming feeling that you don't belong.  We read as Anne matures into a young woman and starts to fall in love with Peter.  The entire book is a roller coaster of emotions that range from anger, happiness, depression, humor, sadness, and even love.  The book ends suddenly because as we all know the Franks and others were captured and taken to a concentration camp.  There is an afterword that sets the scene for what is happening historically prior to the Franks going into hiding and while they are in hiding.  Also included in the afterword is an account of what happened to Anne, her family, and the others living in the Secret Annexe.  It tells the path that each person endured and what their ultimate outcome was.  The final piece of the afterword explains how the diary was found and how Otto Frank decided to finally have the book published.

I had very mixed feelings as I read this book.  It took a lot for me to sit down and really commit to reading it.  I can typically sit down and read a book within a few days, but this wasn't so with The Diary of a Young Girl.  I'm not sure if I couldn't get interested in the book or if the content was so heavy that I could only read 20 or so pages at a time.  Once I got past 100 pages I found myself unable to put the book down.  I'm not sure if it was from interest or desire to start another book.  This book is very raw and tells what life was like as a Jew during World War II.  Anne was brutally honest about the arguing that took place between the hiding members.  It was evident to me that tensions were high and that it was difficult to constantly be at peace with one another since they were living in such cramped quarters with the inability to go outside to get away from each other.  The book ended suddenly because that is how the families were taken from the Secret Annexe.  The families were turned in and Anne and her family were taken from their hiding place and were sent to concentration camps.  Anne didn't get to take her diary with her, and it was later found by Miep and Elli who gave everything to the only survivor from the Secret Annexe, Otto Frank.  By the time that I finished the book I felt that I had connected better with the story and had taken more of an interest in what Anne had to say.  It was surreal to me that someone at the age of fifteen had such moving things to say about herself, the people she lived with, and the war raging outside.  Anne had big dreams and continued to think of life after the war.  She wanted to be a writer and even mentioned in the book what it would be like if people were to read her diary and story.  I think it is amazing that Otto Frank decided to have the diary published.  He could have kept the last part of his daughter to himself, but he decided to share it with the public.  I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I honestly feel that this should have been a book that we were required to read in our junior or senior year of high school.  We read a lot about the Holocaust, but I feel that our education system failed to teach us about the war itself.  We learned about the Holocaust year after year from junior high to high school, but we never really read about the war.  We didn't learn who the Allies were or who the Axis Powers were.  We knew that Hitler was in control of most of Europe and he wanted to exterminate all Jews.  I learned more about World War II from this book than I did from my years in high school.  I would have loved to have had a class where we learned about World War II.  We could have easily read this book while we mapped advancements made by the armies.  As a teacher I see so much that can be done with this book in a high school classroom.  I honestly believe that this should be a book that everyone has to read at some point in their lives.  This isn't a book that should be read by a child.  There is a lot of content in this book that is difficult to decipher and understand.  I think the heavy content was the reason it took me so long to read this book.  Either way it should be on everyone's 'To Read' list.  I would love to go to the Anne Frank house and museum to see where Anne wrote her diary.  Anne Frank is a hero in her own unique way and her story is so honest.   

The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine

From Goodreads:

"As twelve-year-old Marlee starts middle school in 1958 Little Rock, it feels like her whole world is falling apart. Until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. Liz is everything Marlee wishes she could be: she's brave, brash and always knows the right thing to say. But when Liz leaves school without even a good-bye, the rumor is that Liz was caught passing for white. Marlee decides that doesn't matter. She just wants her friend back. And to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are even willing to take on segregation and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families."

Goodreads - The Lions of Little Rock

Awards:

• Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Nominee for Grades 6-8 - 2014
• New Mexico Land of Enchantment Award for Young Adult - 2015

As a teacher I find it very hard to not purchase books.  I see books I like.  I see books I want.  And then I purchase these books.  It's a terrible cycle, but it is money well spent.  That being said, it is very hard for me to simply place Scholastic book orders without shopping for myself.  After about 3 hours of looking through young adult books I had a shopping cart piled with books that was totaling up to over fifty dollars.  One of the books that I was purchasing was The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine.  I had heard of the book a few years prior and was very interested in reading it since I am from Arkansas.  I never really went out of my way to purchase the book.  So naturally when I saw it on Scholastic, I decided to go ahead and buy it.

This book takes place after the 1957 integration of Little Rock's Central High School.  The story is told by Marlee who is a quiet girl who is simply going through the motions.  She doesn't talk and doesn't have much of a voice.  When school starts back a new girl is at school.  Her name is Liz and she soon befriends Marlee.  As the story unfolds we find out that Liz is African American and trying to stay out of trouble and harms way.  Marlee and Liz help each other in ways they can only imagine.  Marlee finds her voice and Liz learns how to not use hers.  I absolutely loved reading the story of Marlee and Liz and how their friendship blossoms.

After reading this book I realized that there was a lot that I didn't know about the Little Rock Nine and what followed afterwards.  Sure I remember the Little Rock Nine being mentioned in history class in high school.  I don't remember it ever being discussed in my Arkansas history class in college.  From an educator standpoint I feel that this book should be a part of the Arkansas history curriculum.  This book does take place after the integration of Central High School, but it is still such a moving and historical piece.  I learned quite a bit from this book and would love to read a book from the aspect of Liz.  In the book we saw Marlee's point of view and the events happening in her life.  I would love to know the events, thoughts, and feelings of Liz throughout the book.

This book is a must read for everyone and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.  The Lions of Little Rock is a book that should be read by everyone at some point in their life.  Ernest Green, one of the nine who enrolled at Central High School said, "We wanted to widen options for ourselves, and later for our children."  I love this quote.  You should widen your options and opportunities for yourselves so that the future children will have better options and opportunities.  Take a leap, strengthen your knowledge, and read this book.  It'll be worth it.

All We Have Is Now by Lisa Schroeder

From Goodreads:

"What do you do with your last day on earth?

Just over twenty-four hours are left until an asteroid strikes North America, and for Emerson and everyone else who didn’t leave, the world will end. But Emerson’s world already ended when she ran away from home. Since then, she has lived on the streets, relying on her wits and on her friend Vince to help her find places to sleep and food to eat.

The city’s quieter now that most people are gone, and no one seems to know what to do as the end approaches. But then Emerson and Vince meet Carl, who tells them he has been granting people’s wishes—and gives them his wallet full of money. 

Suddenly, this last day seems full of possibility. Emerson and Vince can grant a lot of wishes in one last day—maybe even their own."

Goodreads - All We Have Is Now

I discovered this book on Scholastic and figured it would be interesting enough for me to indulge myself in.  I recently moved and I haven't set up my cable yet.  This being said, I was EXTREMELY bored one weekend.  I had watched all the movies I could stand to watch.  I snatched a book off of my book shelf and it just so happened to be the book All We Have Is Now.  I was immediately pulled into the whole "the end of the world is coming" theme.

It starts off with the reader finding out that an asteroid is going to strike North America.  We quickly find out that most people have fled and people are panicking to get home to loved ones.  This story follows the two main characters: Emerson and Vince.  We soon find out that they are homeless and have been living on the streets (their life stories come a little later in the book).  They decide to jump off of the suicide bridge so that they don't have to wait for the asteroid.  At this point they meet Carl who is trying to help as many people as he can before the end of the world.  Emerson and Vince decide to do the same thing that Carl was doing.  We tag along as Emerson and Vince try to go fill as many bucket lists as they can before the world comes to an end.

The story continues to switch viewpoints between Carl, Emerson, and Vince.  This has almost a third person feel to it at times which gave it an interesting quality.  It was so interesting to follow and try to predict who they might meet next and who they might help.  I enjoyed reading and experiencing a relationship flourish between Emerson and Vince.

I'm trying not to give away too many spoilers, but this book was really good.  The only thing that I didn't like was that this book ended rather abruptly.  I felt like it just kept building and building and building and then KAPUT!  I would really like to read another book that steps back a little and tells what REALLY happened at the end.  Did people panic as everything started to fall apart?  Did the asteroid hit Earth or not?  Was this whole asteroid ordeal created by the government as a cover for something bigger?

I really would enjoy to read a secondary book that answers these questions and follows the characters and their journeys through the year after the asteroid. I just wanted a little more at the end of the book.  It was a really good read.  I would recommend it to junior high or high school kids.  As far as end of the world books, this one ranks pretty high on my list and I would give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

My question for everyone is...

What would you do if you knew the world would end in 24 hours?

This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

From Goodreads,

"10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity High School finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 a.m. The auditorium doors won't open.

10:05 a.m. Someone starts shooting.

Told from four different perspectives over the span of fifty-four harrowing minutes, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival."

Goodreads - This Is Where It Ends

I was shopping with one of my friends in Hastings and I saw this book.  It had an interesting cover (yes, I judge books by their cover) and I decided to read the inside flap to get a glimpse into what the book was about.  There was just enough to pull me in and I ended up purchasing the book.  I put this book on the shelf and somewhat forgot about it.

Fast forward about three weeks.  It was finally spring break and I had been reading books non-stop.  If I wasn't reading then I was sleeping or eating.  I often start books late in the evening and typically get caught up in them which causes me to stay up reading until three or four in the morning.  I picked up this book one evening and I couldn't stop reading it.  It was kind of like driving by an accident.  You don't want to look at the carnage, but you look anyways.  This was the same situation.  I wanted to put the book down and go to sleep, but I couldn't do it.  I read until it was about 4:30 in the morning and I finally forced myself to put the book down and go to bed.  I woke up the next morning and I finally continued reading where I had left off.  I finished this book a few hours later.

I have NEVER had a book haunt me like this one did.  This book is about a student who locks his fellow classmates in an auditorium after a school assembly.  Then the unthinkable happens...he starts shooting.  The story is told by four students who are in different locations at the school during the shooting.  As the shooting is unfolding we get glimpses into the past and the past is pieced together where we can finally see why this maniac would start a school shooting.  I don't want to ruin the ending, but it ended exactly like I expected it would.  This book is full of details that are vividly graphic and unsettling.

This book was a very heavy read and it was very hard to let go.  The night after finishing the book I had one of the most vivid dreams I've ever had.  I had a dream that there was a murder suicide in the bedroom next to mine.  I was the one who discovered the bodies and had to call the police.  My family and I had to evacuate our house due to it being a crime scene.  But before we left I had to go get something out of a room which required me to walk past the blood stained room with the bodies still inside.  I remember having to force myself to wake up because I was having a nightmare.  I woke up in a cold sweat and couldn't go back to sleep.

As an educator this is one of my biggest fears.  We go through training to prepare for this kind of event.  Our doors have secure locks and we have certain procedures and protocol that we are supposed to follow.  However, after reading this book you really see how unpredictable a school shooting can be.

This book haunted my dreams.  While it was a book that vividly painted the realistic nature of a school shooting, it was one that I wouldn't read again.  I wouldn't recommend it to educators, because honestly, it terrified me.  I would give this book 2.5/5 stars because of the intensity of the content.  I didn't expect it to impact me the way it did, but it definitely reached into my core and touched it.  After reading this book I quickly sold it to a resale store because I didn't want it sitting on my shelf.  If you are into the school shooting genre then this book is perfect for you, but if you don't want all the gory details, then don't read this!

Darling, Why I Love Books

I absolutely LOVE books.  Love. Them.

I'm a teacher and I obviously encourage my students to read all the time.  I've noticed a lot of my students came to me and didn't want to read.  But somehow and somewhere along the way I've worked some magic and the majority of my students enjoy reading now (there are a few who are hard headed and couldn't be influenced).  It makes me tingle inside to think that I've instilled some kind of love for reading.

My biggest push for students is to find something, some topic, that they enjoy reading about.  One of my students enjoys reading about the military.  So I went out and bought as many books about the military that I could.  A student enjoys reading about sharks?  No problem!  Shark books coming right up.  Some of my girls want to read a book with the girl as someone strong and independent.  I naturally searched for all of my favorite books that included strong female main characters.

What is interesting is that I don't particularly remember books that I read as a child.  I know that I checked a lot of Arthur books out when I was in school.  Every now and then I'll come across some obscure book from my childhood.  I'll get all giddy and excited because it's a book that was never popular and that most kids haven't read.  For example, this weekend I was shopping at Saver's and came across a book called  Wondergirls: The New Girl.  I got so excited because it was a book I recall reading somewhere between 3rd and 5th grade.  I remember being so irritated that I couldn't find the rest of the series.  And here it was...the first book...at a retail store!  I didn't buy it, although now I wish I had....

I love books because they bring back so many memories.  They bring back feelings you haven't felt in years.  I love books because of the exciting unknown that lies within the pages of a book.  Every book is a new story, a new adventure, and a new chance to experience life differently.  I love the rush and excitement of what is going to happen next in a book.  I love the journey that happens in each novel.  I enjoy watching each of the characters grow and how they shape people around them and how people shape them.  If you don't read then that's a shame.  You are most definitely missing out on some important life lessons that can be found in some amazing books.  We are all life long learners, which means we should all be constantly reading.  Read a fiction book about the end of the world or about a disease outbreak.  Read a nonfiction book by someone that you find fascinating or inspirational.  Read a book that relates to your job.  If you can't take a vacation, then take a vacation with a book!  I've included some surprising book facts.  Don't become a statistic.... Read a book!

Darling, I Love Books

Welcome to my new blog about books!!

My name is Rebekah and I'm a teacher who loves to read and write.  It's currently summer break after my first year of teaching and I've been doing a LOT of reading in my downtime.  My friends and family typically know what book I'm currently reading and they sometimes ask for updates. (Okay sometimes I give them updates without them asking!)  But I try to share my love for reading with as many people as I can.

I've found that the trick to getting someone to read is to find something they WANT to read about.  You have to find something that interests you.  So many of my kids started to enjoy reading once they found a topic they wanted to read about.  That's a little secret to getting people to read.  Find something they enjoy reading about.  So many people don't read after high school and that is absolutely depressing.  I hope that someone who reads this blog will read a review that piques their interest and that it convinces them to go read the book.

I'm excited to read a ton of books and then share my thoughts, feelings, and connections with everyone.  I'm excited to take everyone with me on this reading journey and I'm even more excited to share my love of books with you!  I will try to post new book reviews on Tuesdays and Fridays, but may sometimes post other days depending on my excitement about a book!  I would love to hear what you have to say, so don't be afraid to drop a comment!  

Until next time my darlings!